Crash Lander wrote
Steep turns were a little more difficult. so half way through
a turn, mother nature would say hello and push my nice 30 degree
turn into a 45 degree turn for a brief second.

30 degrees angle of bank is not a steep turn, 45-60 degrees is.
REF...FAA Airplane Flying Handbook 9-1..
The steep turn maneuver consists of a turn in either
direction, using a bank angle between 45 to 60°. This
will cause an overbanking tendency during which
maximum turning performance is attained and
relatively high load factors are imposed. Because of the
high load factors imposed, these turns should be
performed at an airspeed that does not exceed the
airplane’s design maneuvering speed (VA). The
principles of an ordinary steep turn apply, but as a
practice maneuver the steep turns should be continued
until 360° or 720° of turn have been completed.

So, now I have a total of 1.9 hours, with the next lesson
booked for next weekend. Next lesson is Stalls, providing
the weather affords us a high cloud ceiling. If not, it's
landings apparently!

What happened to 'slow flight', 'ground reference maneuvers',
and 'traffic pattern' instruction and practice?

Sounds as if your instructor is doing the old 'walking before
crawling' routine.

I would highly recommend that you review the table of contents
for the Airplane Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-3A since it generally
outlines the normal flow of the flight training curriculum.
Note that 'landings' are covered in chapter 8 and everything in
the previous 7 chapters should have been taught and mastered
prior to landings.

Your instructor is putting the cart before the horse. Ground
reference maneuvers should be mastered before any attempt at teaching
the traffic pattern and the traffic pattern mastered before the
student is allowed that first 'crash'. :-)

The FAA-H-8083-3A in PDF format is available on-line at the FAA web
site, and will probably provide better instruction than you are
currently getting. Landings at 2 hours total time....rediculous,
one doesn't learn algebra before arithmetic.

One thing I did notice, and I commented on it with my instructor, is
that I don't feel that I am using the rudders enough because I can't
physically feel any movement with my feet. She told me that I am
moving them, and that it only requires very small movements, and the
a/c is responding to my miniscule inputs just nicely. Maybe my shoe
soles are just too thick? :-) Crash Lander

Yep!....I have my students take off those Reboks and learn in their
socks....it works.

Bob Moore
Flight Instructor, Airplanes/Instruments since 1970